Bit nervous about this.
COTBS is now on BGA and it’s a game I quite fancy taking a spin at. I’m a bit worried about the UI and lack or undo on BGA having an impact on a long game. I believe its a bit like an 18xx and a bit like Arkwright (he says having played neither). It’s up to 4 players. Does anyone fancy it?
Yeah, I would give this one a shot!
I recently played it and did really like it. I found it a bit like a worker placement with a stock market, and no trains but companies to invest in. Enjoy!
I’d be all over this if I didn’t already have too much on my plate. CotBS is on my shelf of opportunity (and me winning it as a BGG contest prize may have been what originally lead me to 18xx).
I have heard only bad things about CotBS, but I’d be happy to spectate.
Intresting most of the people I follow seemed pretty enamoured with it. The only disappointment I’ve heard was from 18XX players, who seemed offended by how the game was marketed. Which is reasonable, but it might just be a matter of expectations.
That probably explains the difference. The bad reviews I heard were all from people used to economic games, while people used to euros tend to like it?
I’ll give it a couple of days to see if anyone else jumps on, then we can give it a shot at 2 players if not
I’ve set it up. Got a couple of players from the BGB Discord to join because 4 is recommended
Another @mr.ister victory!!
I enjoyed it, though you ran away with it a bit!
Without the share crashing rules it was always going to be hard to come back, but I don’t think I’d have enjoyed having my company trashed.
I never seemed to have more resources than the bare minimum and never had enough money in my company.
I had an excellent first round and combined with some BGA hiccups to the detriment of @Captbnut (i.e. trading at Haymarket Square) it was a somewhat forgone conclusion.
With this first game under my belt, I understand the criticisms of the game. The supply chain makes it very tough to get resources especially if companies higher up the appeal track manipulate it successfully. Therefore, I think it’s very difficult to ignore the appeal track which is limiting in an unsatisfying way. The other thing I heard a lot from 18XX players is that companies pretty much only ever improve. There is no train rush, so as long as you get the resources you need, you’re golden. I would hope that the advanced rules would mitigate that to a certain degree, but I don’t think that they solve this problem. Investment in a good company will probably earn you money over the entire run of the game. The decision here is rather wether investment in a different company would net you more.
All of this said, I don’t mind those issues too much. I think this game does well what it sets out to do: implement a subset of 18XX mechanisms into a euro game.
I’m not sure whether that was a BGA issue or me not getting the rules right. It’s an interesting game but I don’t know if I’d rush back to it.